Friday, August 17, 2012

Tuppence Middleton will lead the cast in the BBC's new adaptation of the pyschological thriller The Lady Vanishes. She stars as the beautiful and wealthy socialite Iris Carr, who has to rely on a strength of character she never knew she had to battle doubt and overcome danger as she strives to solve the mystery of why the lady vanished.

Whilst travelling home alone from the Balkans, to escape from her raucous friends, Iris’s expectations of peace are short lived when she faints on the platform of the railway station in the scorching heat. She wakes in time to be rushed on to the train but with a pounding head and a feeling of being almost in a dream.Whilst in this malaise she is comforted by a Miss Froy, whose tweed suit and bookish looks belie a jovial and adventurous spirit. Miss Froy talks at length about her desperation to return home to her family; but when Iris falls asleep she awakes to find Miss Froy has vanished and her fellow passengers denying she ever existed….

Tom Hughes co-stars as Max Hare, a handsome English fellow traveller, and the only one who offers Iris support in her conviction that Miss Froy has somehow been abducted. Tom (represented by Gordon & French), originally from Chester, starred as Nick Slade in BBC One's legal drama Silk. He left RADA drama school early to take up a TV role in the 2009 series Trinity on ITV2. He can be seen starring as Dan in the next ifeatures release Eight Minutes Idle.

The rest of the cast includes Selina Cadell as Miss Froy, Keeley Hawes, Gemma Jones, Stephanie Cole and Julian Rhind-Tutt.

Adapted by Fiona Seres from the novel The Wheel Spins - also filmed by Hitchcock as The Lady Vanishes - it will be directed by Diarmuid Lawrence, and produced by BBC Drama Productions. The Lady Vanishes is a 1 x 90minute film and will start filming on location in Budapest in August. It is due to be shown on BBC1 this Christmas.